


Peaches and Feathers

by Riadasti



Category: Maleficent (2014)
Genre: Budding Love, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 06:30:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19661737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riadasti/pseuds/Riadasti
Summary: Ridiculous, she chided herself. You’re being ridiculous. You don’t need him.But this was a lie she had been telling herself for many years.





	Peaches and Feathers

Diaval came to rest beside her, his heart still racing from their evening flight. He squawked, and she snapped a finger to turn him back into a man.

“You don’t have to ask me to do that anymore, you know.” Maleficent mumbled, gazing out from her favorite roost on the moss-covered cliffs.

Diaval brushed a stray feather from the cuff of his cloak. “I know. I forget sometimes.” He lied.

He wasn’t used to having so much free will, and it was unsettling. And he knew she knew he was lying. She had given him the power to change his shape, and had he known how painful that gift was for her, he would have returned it.

Maleficent glanced at him from the corner of her shimmering emerald eyes, and she let out a soft sigh. It _had_ been difficult—both physically, and (she had to admit) emotionally. She had been weakened long before the battle, and in those painful, incredibly humiliating moments when she’d been trapped under an iron net, she had had to use all of her strength to transform Diaval. The whole ordeal had left her so weary that she slept nearly three full days—until faithful Diaval had awoken her with offers of water and food.

He was always there to take care of her, even when she didn’t want him to.

She had felt obliged to return this favor with the gift of freedom. And this newfound freedom she had offered was a complete gamble. She knew it was necessary, but in the moment that she released the old spell over him and cast a new one, she felt a new sort of weariness fall on her shoulders.

Would Diaval abandon her? Would he use this freedom to make a life for himself elsewhere?

 _Ridiculous_ , she chided herself. _You’re being ridiculous. You don’t need him._

But this was a lie she had been telling herself for many years, and it was one she had to un-learn when the threat of losing Aurora was all too real. Now, she encountered this same fear every time she looked at her faithful, loyal, and at times aggravating servant. If he was no longer her servant, was he now…a friend? An occasional flight companion? What _was_ he to her, now that he had complete control over his life?

Diaval felt the discomfort rolling off of Maleficent in steady waves. He always had a sense of her emotions—but that didn’t mean he understood the inner workings of her mind. He had been enjoying the breathtaking view and marveling at the colors of the sunset, yet now he was distracted by his mistress—no, she was no longer his mistress. What _was_ she to him?

“Maleficent,” he said abruptly, turning toward her. He was giving into one of his riskiest impulses. “Are you afraid that I will leave you?”

Several emotions passed over Maleficent’s hard features, but they moved too swiftly to be read by Diaval’s sharp intuition. She also cleverly avoided the question.

“I don't—I’m not in command of you anymore.” She said, turning away slightly. “You have no obligation to stay except as my…” She let the words fade away, unsure what qualifier to put in the suffocating silence that followed.

“Your…friend? Lover?” He winked shamelessly as she threw him an admonitory glance. But nonetheless, his stomach did a somersault, much like the sensation of doing a loop in midair.

The air was charged between them now. He could feel something else radiating off of her like sudden sunlight through cloudy skies.

“You’ve been a good friend to me.” She cleared her throat, taking an infinitesimal step further away from him. “I haven’t repaid the favor very well, however.”

She swallowed. She was struggling to find sufficient words to express how much he had meant to her, and she was failing miserably. As usual. Emotions were a difficult concept, and she never quite knew what to do with them.

He turned to her, all seriousness now. “You spared my life, and for that, I am eternally in your debt.”

“My reasons were selfish, initially, but I am…” she met his gaze, hesitantly, “I am so glad that I did.”

He nodded his head, mostly to himself—as he decided to give into one of his more foolish impulses.

He took a step towards her, trying to read her face as best as he could. He took another step. The ledge they stood on was not a wide one, and so she was forced, for the moment, to allow this close proximity.

She could take to flight and avoid this confrontation entirely, but for the moment, she didn’t want to.

Diaval was standing closer than he ever dared. Their breaths mingled in the space between them, and he glanced once at her lips. He had never kissed anyone in human form. He’d never even courted anyone as a raven, either, so he was simply going to imitate what he’d seen the young prince do when he attempted the “true love’s kiss” with Aurora.

And so he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

This kiss wasn’t necessarily of the “true love” variety, but it certainly sent sparks down his spine.

Warning bells were resounding in Maleficent’s head. Her first and only kiss had led to betrayal, and it had fueled a lingering hatred.

But this kiss…this was different. It was soft, hesitating, and inexpert on both parts.

And for the pair of them, it was this kiss that helped solidify some doubts.

She startled herself by leaning forward and attempting a second. This one felt different as well, because it held desire and passion.

Diaval’s hands were snaking through her hair and exploring the contours of her face, and she found that, without realizing it, she was mimicking him. His hair was soft and feathery under her fingers, and she was surrounded by the familiar scent of him—of earth and wind.

“You taste of peaches,” she said, pulling back with an admonitory glance.

His cheeks reddened and he glanced away guiltily. “I was saving them for you…but I ate them all.”

She laughed—and it filled her with new, unfamiliar warmth. Diaval— _her_ Diaval—was here to stay.

His eyes were hungrily searching hers, and before he could steal another kiss, she pushed him from the ledge. He toppled down, changing instantly into a raven, and filling the clearing with loud, angry squawking.

“Quit your complaining,” she chided, with a small smile, “And fetch us some more peaches—if you please.”

He fixed her with a black-eyed stare, nodding his beak only once before careening over her head and disappearing into the forest.

Maleficent smiled after him and sat on her favorite ledge and awaited his return.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this small piece of fluff! Please feel free to leave comments/reviews/requests for other fics. 
> 
> <3 Riadasti


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